In less than a week, the boring international break will be over and club football will return with some tantalizing fixtures.
Real Madrid's first assignment is to welcome a highly-motivated Athletic Bilbao to the Santiago Bernabeu in a crunch La Liga clash. What follows are four serious games that could determine whether the 2023/24 season is a success or failure for Los Blancos.
In the Champions League, Real Madrid are facing Manchester City both home and away before they welcome Barcelona to the Bernabeu for El grand Clasico. Before all that, they travel to Mallorca.
Let's talk about Real Madrid's best team to attack those fixtures.
Goalkeeper - Andriy Lunin. We can't look past the Ukrainian shot-stopper. With Thibaut Courtois out for the season, Lunin remains undisputed.
Defence - Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy. Real Madrid will gladly welcome back Eder Militao to the starting XI. The Brazilian has been working hard in training and looks set to return to the fold.
Midfield - Kroos, Tchouameni, Valverde, Bellingham. This midfield should be superior to whatever Man City or any other team throws at it. Others like Modric and Camavinga are quality backups.
Forward - Vinicius, Brahim. Based on their current form, Vini and Brahim Diaz should be starting together more often. Brahim can be a terrifying beast when he runs at defenders and we all know what Vini can do at a moment's notice.
Here's the team on paper.
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